Should get a discount or something
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"Unexpected item in the bagging area."
"Please place the item in the bagging area."
"Unexpected item in the bagging area."
"Please wait for assistance."This was funny like a decade ago when it was commonplace.
Stores in my area solved that at least 6 years ago, maybe even earlier than that.
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That sucks for you and your area
It does.
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I'm split on this. On the one hand if they didn't have self checkout, they'd need more checkout people. On the other hand, before self checkout they didn't really give a fuck if you had to wait in line (especially Walmart holy shit that was one of the biggest reasons I never went there, the fucking checkout line).
In my area, short lines are a priority for most retailers. If a lane has more than 3 people, they'll be ringing for another cashier.
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Self checkout is the greatest thing ever and I will never understand why so many people seem to prefer waiting in line for a few minutes instead of just using the self checkout.
No human interaction, usually faster because I don't have to wait. What's not to love? Sure occassionally you might get selected for a random check and have to wait a bit, but that still beats the line.
They used to be awful here 10-15 years ago, with a scale for your scanned items that would complain over nothing all the time, but now everywhere I've been has done away with that in favor of random controls and the receipt for opening the gate. I think my highlight so far was the clothing store where you didn't even have to scan, you just put your items in a box and it told you what you have to pay.
From what I’ve seen it’s a lot of incompetence ( Doing it wrong causing constant approvals) or pure laziness (I’m not gunna do your job for you!)
Very rarely nowadays it’ll be from just shit machines. I’ve seen the box ones you are talking about, no scanning, just throw it all in. It’s a great solution.
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Oh yeah, instead I'll get in the line behind Mildred who is paying by check and has to have a 20 minute conversation with the checker because her kids never call anymore. Then after that the employee can slowly scan my items and pack them with cold stuff across all bags and fragile stuff under heavy stuff.
Having worked cashier in a past life, I'll gladly let the employees do better work than dealing with having to scan my shit and do a bad job packing for me.
You are my people! My first ever job was grocery bagger boy so I love packing my own stuff the way I want. We take our giant plastic bags to Aldi and packing 4 of those is the equivalent of a cashier packing 20 disposable bags.
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Then after that the employee can slowly scan my items and pack them with cold stuff across all bags and fragile stuff under heavy stuff.
The key to getting in and out quick is to have them scan it and you bag it. Even if they start bagging it for you, "I got the bags" places things in bags.
Also Aldi, Aldi gets you in and out and they know how to pack a cart so things don't get squished. I believe it's because they actually pay their people and train them to get the line moving.
Edit: Another time-save: you can pay for your groceries by card before they are finished ringing them up.
Your Aldi has cashiers? Ours will have at most one dude available but almost no one uses that checkout.
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here they don't talk, don't weigh, don't time out, and can be cleared remotely when you buy age-restricted stuff and don't look like a twink. my only gripe is that some of them won't allow you to delete duplicate scans without help.
The duplicate scan is the only hassle I ever get.
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if i've learned anything from this thread it's that y'all have awful self-checkouts.
They were awful at first, especially the ones with scales that insisted items weigh a certain amount and be placed a certain way. I'm not aware of any around here that do all that crap, and this is a relatively poor little town.
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You people don't have self scanning? Pick a barcode scanner at the entrance, scan everything when you put it in your bags in the cart, and just pay at the exit and walk out (unless you get a semi-rare random check). One of the favorite features of the store I use is that I fill the shopping list at home in the app (that can be shared with other accounts) and then I see the list in my phone or the store scanner, sorted by the order of sections in the store, so eg. all fruit and vegetables will be next on the list when I get to that section. I also like that you see your total in real time and the scanner reminds you if there's a "3 for 2" or other offers.
Some stores have scanning from a phone, but for most it is much more cost effective to prevent theft in one place instead.
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I know I'm in the minority but I prefer self checkout so I don't have to talk to people. Same reason I quit customer service work. I do not want to hear about your day I want to pay for my shit and leave.
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I die on this hill for a different reason: the store holds the customer responsible for scanning or incorrectly scanning your merchandise. There was an article of a store calling the cops to arrest someone who accidentally forgot to scan something on the bottom of their cart.
Self checkout is a way for companies not only to get rid of a job, but to shift shrink liability to the customer.
If you're going to make me scan my own merchandise, then the store should wave my liability if I get it wrong.
I disagree. These companies aren't total morons. I'm sure they've studied this thing exhaustively and calculated a slighter higher shrink and machine maintenance was cheaper than paying cashiers. Keep in mind, at the low end of the pay scale, the employer's total cost is nearly double the wage paid.
Some places may call the cops, but I'd bet that's a rare event. Look at it from the cop's point of view, they're going to get sick of that petty shit in a hurry, start slowing their roll when the store calls. Want an annoyed police force when your store has an actual emergency?
Most places in America, the big chains anyway, seem to have policies like I was trained with at Lowe's. No cops unless it's an emergency or they stole something huge like a $4,000 mower, and even then, call after they've left and give the cops the license plate pic. Never accuse a customer, not even an implication. Never block a thief from exiting or back them into a corner. They gave us some pretty slick tips on approaching someone we suspected, mainly consisting of chatting to make 'em nervous.
Always keep in mind when you see some crazy shit like the article you read, that makes news precisely because it's crazy shit.
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You people don't have self scanning? Pick a barcode scanner at the entrance, scan everything when you put it in your bags in the cart, and just pay at the exit and walk out (unless you get a semi-rare random check). One of the favorite features of the store I use is that I fill the shopping list at home in the app (that can be shared with other accounts) and then I see the list in my phone or the store scanner, sorted by the order of sections in the store, so eg. all fruit and vegetables will be next on the list when I get to that section. I also like that you see your total in real time and the scanner reminds you if there's a "3 for 2" or other offers.
Did that three times, got three times "random" checked, returned my customer card and buy in another store now. Solid 5/7, perfect experience
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Your Aldi has cashiers? Ours will have at most one dude available but almost no one uses that checkout.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Pretty much the same. Though I have rarely been more than the 2nd person in line at an Aldi. That one dude keeps pace!
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You technically get a discount. I can't say I've ever heard of having enough cashiers. If they hire more at a higher rate maybe they could get more cashiers. This would increase the expense and this increase the prices. Without that, the price now is what you get. A technically lower price than if they paid cashiers more.
Most folks think their hourly wage is the employer's cost. By the time you add it all up, a $15 cashier actually costs $25-$30. For almost any employer, wages are the number one expense. If they started paying that again, you bet we'd pay more.
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The last self checkout I used, a store associate took my things and scanned them for me....it was a strange self checkout experience
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Why is everyone so adverse to talking to a cashier? Also, you have cashiers that wish to chat?!
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We all love to hate on Walmart, but in my part of the world, it's got the closest implementation to what I consider acceptable self-checkouts.
The biggest quality of life feature is that they don't use the the weight sensors in the bagging area. You can use the hand scanner to scan every item in your cart sans weighted produce, as fast as your body will allow.
On the flip side, most of the chain grocery stores in my area have the bagging area scanners that need constant overrides, use AI cameras that lock up after every third item and require an override each time, slow machines that seem to have to compute the pi to the 10 sextillionth digit after each item is scanned before it will be ready for you to place it in the bagging area, and things of that nature. Those suck for sure.
They're hit-or-miss as a customer convenience because their actual purpose is to cut labor costs.
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So you disrespect the person doing the job? I won't insult them so.
I mean if the job comes with disrespect people will stop taking it right?
Not that it's a nice thing to do but it does sound effective. Consumers don't really have much recourse when large companies adopt policies that hurt them. It's designed like that for a reason. You won't be mean to a person from your community so they make them the face of their bad policy choices. Then they can say oh sorry it's just our policy and the issue goes away
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From what I’ve seen it’s a lot of incompetence ( Doing it wrong causing constant approvals) or pure laziness (I’m not gunna do your job for you!)
Very rarely nowadays it’ll be from just shit machines. I’ve seen the box ones you are talking about, no scanning, just throw it all in. It’s a great solution.
I prefer the human checkout and it's not for any of those reasons.
For one thing I have a family of 5 and scanning that many groceries at a self checkout is super painful.
Next the grocery store made its money off of the backs of their workers then when it wasn't convenient anymore they fired a bunch of them and replaced them with machines. Now you have 2 humans in the front of the store doing the job of 10. Their only motivation for adding them was money and not convenience based on how it's been implemented. I still have to wait in a huge line that wouldn't be there if they had cashiers and machines together.
I love the idea of them it's just not being implemented in the right way to make it super helpful for the customer.
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Why is everyone so adverse to talking to a cashier? Also, you have cashiers that wish to chat?!
I'm faster.
